The Music of a Pokemon's Call
by Sophia Angelia
Summary: When Arceus gets bored and decides to go down to the human world, he meets a girl named Carmen. Together, with Carmen's best friend Haydo and many new friends to make and meet, they travel Sinnoh together. Rated T to be safe. Some swearing and slight suggestive material in later chapters.
1. Down the Mountain, At the Park

A young woman, 18 years of age and a fire in her eyes, walks through the forest, her guitar on her back adding more weight than most travelers cared for but she didn't mind. Going somewhere without her guitar was like going somewhere without her best friend; a small Fletchling she had raised from an egg. They had only been together a few months, but they had bonded immediately, never separating. The short haired girl had never really traveled before, sticking to her town to perform her music, but after the recent death of the mother she hadn't been able to stick around. Carmen had set out in the middle of the night, sneaking out of her house and away from her father. She had been walking away from that town for five days now, and had not once looked back.

Meanwhile, a certain Pokémon God was bored. He stood in his Hall, looking around. Walking to the end of the long Hall, he opened the huge double doors and stepped out onto the golden platform, the doors disappearing as they closed. He flew off, surveying his world. The sky was cloudy, and on any other day where the skies of Sinnoh had been clear, he would have stayed in his hall above Mt. Coronet. Settling just above the cloud layer, he contemplated going below it, but decided that he didn't want to draw attention to himself.

An idea struck Arceus then. He had taken a human shape before, so why couldn't he take one now? He had never considered it before, never really having a reason to interact with the human world for reasons other than its general upkeep, but now he figured getting some practice with human interactions would not be such a bad idea. Concentrating on what he had looked like, Arceus closed his eyes. There was a bright flash just beyond his eyelids, and when Arceus opened his eyes again, he was in his human form, complete with white jacket, and white hair with golden bangs and a long ponytail that went down his back, the underside a grey color.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he kicked off the ground, giving long jumps down the mountain towards Hearthome City, to the point of nearly flying but not quite.

Carmen walked on until something strange happened, without warning the Fletchling lifted itself from the girls pixie styled hair and flew off heading in a direction that seemed completely random. "Hey, Haydo!" Carmen called running after the Pokémon. "What are you doing? Come back!" The girl tried to keep up but couldn't; the guitar case on her back slowed her down slightly, but it didn't help that she was on foot and the small creature could fly so much faster.

Haydo had felt it, the presence of her God. She needed to go toward it, it make sure that it wasn't a trick. She wanted to see the creator, if only for a brief second, even if that meant having to leave Carmen behind, she would be all right for a short while.

Arceus landed with a _thud_ at the base of the mountain, a hundred yards from the gates of Hearthome City. It was a pleasant enough path, simple dirt lined with grass and flowers, just like in the days he remembered. Noticing a flutter in the corner of his eye, he turned to watch the Fletchling fly up to him. He held out a finger, offering a perch. "Hello there, little Fletchling. It's rare to see one so far from Kalos... What are you doing all the way out here?" he asked. For any normal person, they would not expect a response, but seeing as how Arceus was a Pokémon, he of course could communicate with and understand them.

The Fletchling landed on the man's finger, she looked up at him, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "My friend and I are traveling," she explained, her voice was more stable than she thought it would, she was rather nervous after all. "Why do you look human?" she asked.

Carmen continued to run in a straight line, hoping that Haydo hadn't turned at all. She saw a man in a white coat with strange hair, and there on his finger was a Fletchling. "Haydo!" the girl gasped out, running up she stopped just a few feet from the man, leaning down and resting her hands on her knees as she panted, trying hard to catch her breath.

Arceus just smiled at the Fletchling, pressing a finger to his lips, asking to keep a secret. Haydo nodded, she liked games, and keeping secrets was one she was great at. She kept all of Carmen's secrets, like how the girl cried at night sometimes because she couldn't stop her dad from drinking and beating her mother until one day her mother just couldn't take it, or how her father called her mean names whenever she tried to get him to stop and sometimes even turned to hit her, or how Carmen saw her dad kissing another woman but didn't want to tell her mom because her mom had enough to deal with already. Yup, Haydo was great at games like secret keeping.

Arceus turned to Carmen. "Is this your Pokémon?" he asked, extending his arm. "She's a rather rare Pokémon in this area."

Carmen stood up straight. "My uncle," she was cut off as she took another large breath. "Phew... " she chuckled. "My uncle brought her home after one of his trips. She was just an egg." She smiled up at the Pokémon as she fluttered back onto her spot on Carmen's head. "I'm sorry if she bothered you, she usually doesn't do things like that," she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and slight worry, hoping everything was okay with her best friend.

"No, it's fine. I'm used to it, actually. Pokémon seem to like me for some reason." Arceus shrugged, noticing some wild Pokémon peeking out at them from the bushes.

Carmen looked around nodding. "Yeah, seems like you're quite the attraction," she said looking back at the man. "Can't say I blame 'em, you have this air of... flock to me about you," she smiled kindly.

"Is she your only Pokémon, then? You don't look like much of a trainer..." He noticed the guitar case on her back, but didn't say anything.

Carmen raised an eyebrow at his words. "I'm not sure if I should...take that as an insult or not?" she looked up at Haydo, the little Pokémon just nodded. "Yeah, she's my one and only," the girl grinned. "What about you? Do you have any Pokémon?" the girl wasn't sure how to tell a trainer from regular human, but it was probably a good trick to have.

Arceus opened his mouth, about to respond that he was a Pokémon, but hesitated, remembering that he should always assume humans had a Pokéball on them. "Nah, I'm just traveling a bit, getting out to see the world. How about you? Traveling musician?" he asked, gesturing to the guitar on her back.

Carmen opened her mouth to tell the truth but somehow 'I sort of kind of ran away from home because my dad finally finished the job on my mom' didn't seem like the best way to go. "Yeah, I kind of grew up in a small-ish town so everyone all ready knows all my songs so I thought I would get out and try to find somewhere I can not only keep my old stuff but maybe find a muse for some new stuff," she shrugged. Her muse had always come from the secrets she held, but now, some how it all seemed a bit too much to write about, so she was looking for...well, something happy maybe? She didn't know, maybe I different kind of sadness would do as well. "Where are you from?" she asked, he seemed nice enough and Haydo obviously liked him and she hadn't really talked to a person in a while so it was nice to at least have a short conversation if he allowed it.

"Oh, um..." he pointed to Mt. Coronet on impulse, "Snowpoint City..." though it didn't sound too convincing. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name. What is it?"

Carmen wasn't too convinced he lived in Snowpoint, however, she did believe he lived on Mt. Coronet, he was pointed to it too quickly to make that up. "Oh, I'm Carmen, sorry," she extended a hand for him to shake, smiling friendly. It was just her thing, she was friendly, she had to be. She was too scared to think where her mind would go if she didn't somehow stay on the bright side of things. "And this is Haydo," she pointed up to the Fletchling.

Arceus quickly took her hand in a firm shake. "It's nice to meet you, Haydo, Carmen," he smiled, before remembering he should introduce himself. He scrambled for a name that didn't give him away. "I'm.. my name is Mason." He let go of her hand after introductions.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mason," Carmen smiled.

"You wouldn't happen to be going to Hearthome City, would you?" he jabbed a thumb in the direction of said city.

"Yeah, actually that's exactly where we were headed," the girl nodded, if so it would be nice to maybe actually travel with someone, he seemed so... strange, something about him just reminded her of something else and she couldn't put the two together.

"Oh, that's convenient! I was just looking for someone to travel with. It gets rather lonely by yourself," Arceus stated, really not opposed to traveling with Carmen. "You wouldn't mind if I tagged along, would you?"

Carmen looked up at Haydo who nodded. "Yeah, of course," the girl said as she started on her way. "What made you want to see other places, Mason?" she asked, looking up at him as they walked.

Arceus shrugged. "I was curious what the rest of the world looked like. Got cooped up in my house, and on a whim decided to go take a long walk." Speaking of long walks, he didn't bother bringing any money along when he decided to go on his walk. A quick pocket check confirmed this. Human currency was the one thing Arceus refused to make, not for lack of ability, but rather for respect to the human culture and the way their economy ran. That being said, he had forgotten to take his small stash with him before leaving the Hall. "You wouldn't happen to have any money, would you?" he asked, realizing they'd need to pay for a hotel room for the night.

"A long walk indeed," Carmen said looking up at the mountain. When he asked if she had money she raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah I've got some cash, and I'm sure I can make more when I get into town. Hopefully we'll have enough for one room and some food tonight, huh, Haydo?" the small Pokémon chirped up. "Yeah! Sleeping outside was bad enough last night," it said, even though Arceus was the only one would could understand her.

"Okay. If we could find a piano somewhere, I could help out too." Arceus nodded. "What songs do you know on your guitar, by the way?" he asked. The gate to the city drew closer. By now, they were only a few yards away.

"Um... Mostly only my own. If we find a piano we could play duets though, or I could sing and you could play, though, would there be a piano just out for us to use?" she asked, a bit confused. "Because, I usually just play in a park or something," the girl shrugged, looking up at him, wishing she could think of some way he could help just in case they couldn't find a piano. "Can you sing?" she asked finally.

"Um... I've dabbled a bit in singing. I could probably sing if you played a song. As for pianos... I don't know, perhaps there'd be one in a cafe somewhere that we could use."

"All right, so as a last resort you sing one of my songs, I have the sheet music so don't worry, and if we find a piano than you play, then I play, then you play, that is if you can't find a song that I know," she added on. Carmen had never really played with someone before, there were people in her town that could play but she felt that they didn't give the right kind of passion into their talent. Of course there were different sorts of passion, all the others were carried by their love for music, where as Carmen's passion was driven by the fact that if she didn't have music then she probably wouldn't be alive anymore. Music had brought her from the dark and out into the day again, sure, nearly every day seemed over cast, no bright light around her, but at least she could see.

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Arceus nodded. He had never played with anyone either, though he had practiced a few pieces before for a duet that never happened. He knew a few songs that might or might not be recent, mostly from other legends singing them when they came to annual meetings, but could pick up a melody rather easily. They passed thought the route gate into the city, paved stone and cement streets replacing dirt and grass. A building shaped like a church passed on the right, and Arceus eyed it suspiciously as they walked by. Nonetheless, Hearthome seemed very promising, with tons of tourists, trainers with their Pokémon, and families alike in the streets. "So, we're looking for a piano somewhere. If not, we could go to Amity Square and play there..."

Carmen quietly hummed to herself as they walked around the town, she had only seen pictures of towns like Hearthome. It was strange, it was so large it made her feel like a Joltik, and it wasn't even the largest city out there... and yet she felt so at home, just walking around with Haydo on her head and her guitar on her back. Mason was a nice improvement, but she didn't really seem him a complete part of the group yet, he was just too new. "Good plan, great plan," Carmen said as she looked at the church. "Whoa,"

"What, the church?" Arceus looked between Carmen and said building. "Yeah, it's kind of a tourist spot. One of the few ones of its kind out there. Won't get those anywhere in Castelia or Lumiose City, that's for sure... The thing is, it's still actively used, too."

"What exactly is it used for? Like... praying and stuff? I don't understand that..." she furrowed her eyebrows, she felt a little childish having to ask.

"Yeah, for praying. To... um..." he had to stop himself from saying 'to me'. "To Arceus, I guess. I've never personally been in one. Never had any use for a church. Why, you want to go inside?"

Carmen shook her head. "No, I just don't understand why someone would, you know? I mean, to each their own, don't get me wrong, I guess I worship him in my own way but he doesn't seem to care whether you worship him or not," she looked back at Mason.

Arceus looked, surprised at Carmen. Of course he cared; he made time in his busy schedule to listen to everyone's prayers every day. But he couldn't tell her this, and that stung him more than her words. Sometimes keeping a secret is harder than honesty. "You didn't strike me as the kind to worship... I take it you don't pray?" he asked as they walked on past the building.

Carmen shook her head. "I did when I was little, but it didn't matter how much I prayed," she hesitated. "My dad never got better," she shrugged. "I mean, I'm not angry, I understand that sometimes people are just not supposed to get what they want, but that doesn't make it hurt any less that there was no answer," she explained.

Arceus frowned. He thought back to a few years ago, when Carmen might have prayed. He often got a lot of prayers about sick family members, so most of them just blended together. Regrettably, he hadn't answered any prayers, and in all honesty, still didn't. It only now occurred to him that there might be people out there who expected him to respond, and that he might have been letting millions down for centuries. "Do you think he might be asleep?" Arceus attempted to joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Carmen looked up at him, a bit taken aback by such a joke, but second later she burst into a smile, a small chuckle rocking her body. "That's messed up," she nudged him. "No, dad isn't asleep," well, she didn't know that for sure, her father might be sleeping at that moment, but just as she had hoped, Mason didn't see through her words, she had phrased it perfectly. But how long was she going to keep up that lie.

Haydo looked at Arceus her eyes narrowing. "Why didn't you answer her prayer?" she asked, she wasn't angry at him, how could she be angry at God? But she did feel bad for her friend.

Arceus briefly looked up to Haydo, giving the bird a small apologetic look. He would understand if the Pokémon would be angry. He was slightly angry at himself as well. "Oh, so he's still alive?"

Haydo snuggled more into Carmen's head as if comforting her. "It's okay... at least you didn't take her from me," she chirped.

Carmen nodded. "Yup, dad's still alive," she said, running her fingers through her bangs. "He still isn't better though, oh well," she shrugged, then she bit her lip, remembering something. "Hmm, the last time I prayed was actually the day I left home, huh, Haydo?" the girl looked up but the Fletchling was asleep.

"How long ago did you leave, by the way?" Arceus asked. If it was recent, perhaps he could still respond to her prayer...

"Five days ago," she smiled happily to herself. "I guess that prayer was answered," she chuckled as if the thought was childish. "I just wanted to get out, and since I've been doing nothing but walking away, I doubt I'll ever have to go back. So..." Carmen looked at Mason. "Maybe Arceus does listen? I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe he just got bored and wanted to see where my life would go if I got out,"

Her prayer was more than two days old, so he couldn't recall what she had said, nor respond to it, but Arceus now felt like he didn't have to. "I don't doubt Arceus getting bored," he responded with a chuckle. "I do doubt, however, the idea that Arceus would toy with other people's lives to sate that boredom." Arceus had never done such a thing like directly choosing something for someone. He has presented some options to people occasionally, but in the end it was always their choice what to do with their life. "I like to think that the future of one's life is decided by their actions, and not by a higher power."

"You like to think that, huh?" Carmen chuckled. "I completely believe that, I pray for a little back up when I'm too scared to carry on, but like I said, it always seems to fall on deaf ears. We need to take a hold of our own lives, carry out our own decisions, because if all we do in ask Arceus for help and do nothing until he gives it to us, well, we're going to die sitting around," she smiled up at him. "It's a fun idea to entertain though, that there's someone listening in on your life to see how you're doing because he cares about every single one of us," she chuckled again. "I don't know if Arceus even exists or not, but if he does, he isn't listening," she realized how cold her words must have sounded and tried to correct herself. "It's not that I hate him, if he does exist, I just understand that he's probably more busy with Pokémon than humans, because he is a Pokémon I guess they get first dibs," she shrugged.

"Hmm, perhaps. I never considered that..." Arceus hadn't really noticed, but now that he reflected on that, it did seem more prevalent. He dealt more with the other legendaries than he did with humans. "Yeah, perhaps Arceus is just really busy...But you know what? From now on, I'll listen to you. So you can talk to me if you need to, okay?"

Carmen looked up at him, a happy smile playing on her lips and she nodded. "All right, I'll take you up on that. But only if you promise to tell me if I talk too much, get annoying, all that jazz. Oh, and you can talk to me about things too," she promised him. "I like to listen, if I can shut up enough to do so. I have this thing about rambling... I'm doing it now aren't I?" she blushed slightly. "Sorry,"

Arceus laughed a bit. "It's fine. I've had enough with the silence in my life. Hardly anyone in my family talks to me, and when they do, it's only to settle an argument with another family member. Then there's our yearly family reunions... I sometimes wish they weren't mandatory..."

Carmen looked up at him. "Mandatory family reunions? What? I've never heard of something like that. It's your life, Mason, live it with or without your family," she nudged him gently.

Arceus laughed, "It's more like live with my family or live on another planet. As far as mandatory goes, it's just to make sure no one's killed each other yet," he joked. They had been walking through town, yet no piano had appeared in the cafe windows.

Carmen looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're family sounds delightful," she chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "All right, we should probably either start setting up or actually find a piano," she stated, looking inside random windows to see if she could find the large instrument.

"... I'll just sing, I guess. Until we can afford a keyboard or something. Yeah, let's head for the part, there should be a lot of people there." Arceus turned a corner, heading in what seemed like a random direction, but was actually towards the park.

Carmen followed him without question. "All right, sounds good," she smiled. "Um, sorry if you don't like my music... it can be a little... weird sometimes," she stated. So many of her songs seemed so sad that it was hard to really get into them for some people, and Mason didn't seem like the kind of person to like them, if she was to be honest to herself. He seemed too happy about everything to really understand them.

"Weird? How so?" he asked, the park coming into view. There were a ton of people at the park, young families, old couples, trainers having battles in the fields. There was a gazebo in the middle of the park, and up on some hills nearby are old ruins currently being used as a play place for kids. "We could set up at the gazebo..."

"Um, weird as in sort of depressing," she shrugged. She looked around the park in slight amazement. "Uh, yeah, that sounds great," she smiled. "Come on," she was in a hurry to get started, and that was made clear when she took hold of the man's hand and nearly ran to the gazebo. She set her guitar case down and opened it, pulling her guitar and many pages of sheet music from the case. "Um... here," she said, handing him a few of the pieces of music.

"Oh..." Arceus looked over the song on the sheet music. "Wow, this is rather depressing, but uplifting at the same time... Do you want me to sing or would you rather the first few songs?"

"We can take turns," Carmen suggested. "I'll sing My Song, and we can just go on from there?" she said looking up at him her leaf green eyes a little more wide than usual as she tried to make him happy. She wanted him to feel useful but it was strange sharing her songs like this with someone, usually she just played them and that was all, but actually showing someone the sheet music was a new step.

Haydo had awoken to the sound of Carmen tuning her guitar and chirped happily. "Yay, Arceus is going to help!" she said, fluttering her wings and moving to the Pokémon God's head. "You'll get us lots of money for lots of food,"

"Haydo..." Carmen looked up at the Pokémon slightly confused, she had never left her head before the land on someone else and now she had done it twice in one day. "She must really like you..."

"Yeah, I guess so," Arceus reached up to pat the little Pokémon. "You can sing first, that's okay. Gives me more time to look at the next one anyways." Arceus shuffled the papers, looking at the next song and quietly humming out the melody.

Meanwhile, a small group of people had gathered on and around the gazebo, interested in the small group setting up to play.

Carmen nodded and started strumming her guitar, her callused finger tips moving against the strings like she had had the song built into them. As she sang her eyes closed, or she looked down, refusing the meet the eyes of any of the people listening to her. She didn't even look up at Haydo or Mason. She just performed the song, letting all the emotion that had gone into it pour out like the first time she had ever sung it.

Arceus had to stop what he was doing, and stared at Carmen. He couldn't believe the talent of that girl, and the pure emotion that went into her words. Something told him there was more driving her than pure love of music, like his passion did. When the song ended, he didn't hesitate to clap along with the even larger crowd that had gathered. A good amount of money had been put into the case, enough to get them a room for the night. Arceus also noticed how these songs seemed to be personal. "You know, we don't have to keep going if you don't want to..."

Carmen blinked as if snapped from a trance when the clapping started. She grinned happily, looking around at everyone before gazing up at Mason. "Huh? Oh, um, okay. I mean, if you don't want to have a go at it," she said, gesturing to the music in his hand. "Or, you could just sing something that you know," she pointed out. "I don't want to force you to sing what you don't want to," she shrugged, looking down at the cash they had gotten. People were more generous here than the other places she had performed.

"No, it's totally fine, I think I can manage. Might have to take it down an octave or so... Ready whenever you are." Arceus nodded, waiting for her to start the song.

Carmen nodded and started on her guitar again, she may not sing this time, but that wouldn't stop her from putting her heart into the notes she played.

Haydo moved back to Carmen's head, letting Arceus focus more on the song.

Arceus took a deep breath, deciding to pour just as much soul into his singing as Carmen did in hers. His deep baritone voice rang thought the gazebo and into the air, drawing more people to come listen to the performance. Soon, however, the song was over, and he let out a breath of relief. "For a minute there, I thought I was going to mess up..."

Carmen almost stumbled over a few cords as the sound of his voice filled the air around her. He surprised her and the passion he put into her song... she couldn't help but smile. When they had finished she grinned up at him. "You are amazing!" She said standing up to face him. She looked down at the guitar case, the money they had both brought in was more than she had probably ever had at one time in her life. "Thank you everyone, for your donations!" Carmen grinned. She gently placed the guitar down and started to gather the money into her hands, putting it into Mason's coat pockets.

Arceus was startled when she started stuffing his pockets, but got down and helped load up on money. "We should come here more often," he said as the crowd dispersed. "Now that we got more than enough money, would you like to go do something else?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well! Here we go with another one! Don't worry, this one probably has ten more chapters of pre-written stuff for it. I'm not going to abandon it. That being said, this was actually taken directly from a role play I did with my friend. So if anyone catches any major mistakes please let me know and I will go back and fix them!**

**READ ON!**

**-SA ;P**


	2. Dinner, Snacks, and a Talk

Carmen placed her guitar in the case before placing the sheet music on top of it and securing the case on her back while standing up. "Hmmm," she bit her lip as she thought. "I honestly don't know what there is to do. I guess we could just go get some food," she looked up at Haydo. "I don't know, is there anything you want to do? You're in charge of the money," she smirked.

At the notion of food, his stomach growled. Arceus hadn't realized he had worked up quite the appetite, or an appetite at all for that matter. It was very rare that he actually got hungry, mostly from not really needing food in the first place. "Yeah, food sounds good right about now." Arceus pointed down the street. "I think we passed a restaurant on the way here. Want to go check it out?"

Carmen smiled. "Yeah, let's go," the young woman seemed to be up for anything, jumping on any moment that was a new experience. She had eaten in a restaurant before, but had she eaten in that exact one? Of course not! Making it a new adventure. "So, what exactly is your family like?" she asked as they walked.

"Oh, um..." Arceus tried to think of a way to phrase this that didn't sound suspicious. "We're a weird bunch, really. There's about sixty or so of us now... and not everyone gets along. I, being the oldest, am designated peace keeper. It seems to be my cousin's job in life to disturb that peace, though, so my job is never done." Arceus smiled, thinking of Mew and her crazy antics. "She's a good person, though. Always looking out for the younger ones." Arceus turned to Carmen. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"Sixty of you?" Carmen sounded amazed, her family was basically nonexistent compared to that. "Oh, gosh, my family," she made a face and chuckled a little awkwardly. "Um, my mom was an only child, my dad only had his brother. I don't have any cousins, I'm an only child, my grandparents died when I was young. My mom died a couple months ago.. I have seen Uncle Xander since he gave me Haydo's egg..." the words sort of tumbled out of Carmen's mouth before she thought about them. "It was dad and me for a little bit, but I just couldn't stick around for very long after mom passed, you know," she looked up at him with a small, almost sad smile. "That's all there really is about my family," her gaze dropped away from his though, as if she didn't want him to see the twinkle of the lie that showed up.

Arceus nodded. "That's understandable. You know, sometimes I wish I had a small family like yours. Sometimes it feels like my family isn't even a family, just a group of strangers trying to get along." Like a certain other place, he realized. "But maybe that's all a family really is, you know?" They arrived at the restaurant quickly, and Arceus held the door open for Carmen to walk in.

"I don't know... I guess small families have their perks, but at the same time, so do large families. You always have someone whose got your back, no matter what, right?" she looked up at him again. "Oh thanks," she entered the restaurant, holding up two fingers to the waitress before the woman showed them to their seats. "In small families it's tough, because if you don't like someone you can't get away from them, but in large families, I've never really heard about people not being able to get away in some form or another, " she carried on the conversation as if there hadn't been a pause.

"Yes, I see what you mean. But I don't feel like I know everyone, and that really bothers me. I like knowing who I'm related to, and I feel like if only my family were smaller, I'd be able to know them all." Arceus explained, browsing through the menu. It contained a wide array of pasta and fish Pokémon, anything from magikarp over alfredo noodles to feebas filet with a side of rigatoni and vegetables. There was also vegetarian and vegan options for those against eating Pokémon.

"Okay, I see your point," Carmen said. "But then again, do you really make the effort to know everyone? Because I feel like if you really made an effort you would know every single person in your family pretty easily," she scanned the menu at all. It was obvious the girl didn't really have a filter, if she wanted to say something, she was going to say it, whether or not it was insulting. The girl never tried to be insulting though, and if she managed to be she would always hop to apologize. Carmen only browsed over the vegetarian part of the menu, she didn't agree with eating Pokémon, it seemed so wrong to do so.

"Most of them don't like talking to me, and often avoid having conversations with me." Arceus sighed. When the waiter came by, he ordered a salad. "But I get what you're saying, and-" he froze, looking towards the back of the restaurant. "They have a piano."

"They don't like to talk to you?" Carmen asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are you like... the goody-two-shoes of the group or the black sheep?" The girl ordered a salad as well before looking over her shoulder at the instrument. "Awesome! Maybe they'll let you play it," she smiled at him before looking around for a waitress or waiter to ask.

Arceus grimaced. "I was neither. I guess they just felt like there was never a reason to talk to me." he looked around for a waiter, before deciding to just go for it. He sat on the bench, pushing up the cover on the keys and letting his fingers rest on the white keys, before starting up a slow, heartfelt song.

Carmen watched him stand and walk to the piano. When he started to play she smiled softly, closing her eyes as she was completely taken into the music, her. She just listened, hearing the passion flow through his fingers and into the instrument, they seemed almost one in the same. She was more than impressed.

Arceus smiled, watching the room become smitten with the music flowing out of the piano, music he was making. Conversations died down, heads turned. Now that he had their attention, he decided to play something upbeat and simple, favoring something of a polka feel, perhaps something from a carousel.

Carmen opened her eyes at the change of the song, a smile dancing on her lips once more. It was amazing how he had changed songs so easily. She pulled a few dollars from her pocket and stood, walking over and placing it on the piano before going back to sit down, just as she had thought, the small action had brought others to follow her lead.

Arceus was surprised as others started tipping him for playing. He didn't stop the song, however, taking many repeats. After a bit, he changed to a more classical piece, the song ending just before their salads came out. Arceus gathered the money on the piano and returned to the table. "Well, that was fun..."

"That amazing!" Carmenexclaimed. "I can't believe you're that amazing! You're going to have to teach me some things," she begged, grabbing his hand. "Please, please, please," she continued.

"Okay, on one condition, though. You have to teach me how to play guitar!" Arceus responded, enthusiastic to be teaching someone piano. It truly was a beautiful instrument, as was guitar.

"Deal!" Carmen said. The girl already knew a little bit about piano but Arceus was on a completely different level than she was. "We'll teach each other," she grinned before sitting back in her seat. "We're going to make a great team," she couldn't stop smiling until she took a bite of her salad.

Haydo giggled. "Learning piano from God, she's not nearly as excited as she should be," the Fletchling chirped up. She hopped off of the girl's head and started to peck at bits of the salad.

Arceus watched Haydo with a chuckle. "Indeed," he responded, to both of them at the same time. He then took a bite of his salad, and was immediately taken by the rush of flavors. It had been too long since he last had a meal. He finished the rest of the salad in silence, savoring every bite.

Carmen grinned."So, where did you learn to play like that?" she asked him. She was still so intrigued by this man. He was so strange... and yet... not strange at all. She wanted to know everything about him and yet somehow felt that he wasn't going to tell her next to anything. He must have been similar to her in a way.

"A long time ago," he set his fork down on the plate, pushing the empty plate to the edge of the table. "Back when I was just a little boy," back when the piano was invented, and being able to play it was all the rage. "I haven't played much recently, so I wasn't expecting to sound that good, in all honesty. What about you? Who taught you to play the guitar?"

Carmen nodded in understanding. "Oh, um, I actually taught myself. I learned from ear, listening to other musicians," she shrugged. "It took me a long time to actually get good enough to write my own stuff. I have only been writing for about two years, but I've had ol' Xander for roughly six years," she said, patting her guitar case.

"Six years, self taught. That's actually kind of impressive. I sure wouldn't be able to play today if someone hadn't sat me down at a piano one day and told me both how to read music and how to play it." Arceus leaned his head on his hand, intrigued.

"Music is my life, Mason, it was either learn it or sit in my room blasting it to cover up what was going on around me. Music got me out of the house, music... made me happy," she smiled at him. "I honestly don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't figured it out," she sighed, pushing her plate aside as well. "Sorry, I sound sort of depressing," she chuckled. "I have a tendency to do that,"

"No, it's fine. I really don't mind at all." Arceus smiled in return. "I think you're a wonderful, special person, and it's great you found your passion." He paid the bill, getting up to go. "Anything else you would like to do? There's the contest hall, the poffin house..."

Carmen blushed slightly. "Oh... well thank you," she smiled softly at him. "What's the contest hall? Wait.. isn't that where they like dress up Pokémon and make them perform?" she shook her head. "No, not there. The poffin house sounds great though! I've never tried one and I know for a fact that Haydo would love it,"

Haydo chirped as if in agreement, her wings fluttering as she flew up to Arceus's head. "The poffin house, the poffin house!"

"Poffin house it is, then. But I'm pretty sure the poffins are for Pokémon only, but I don't think there's any harm in trying one," he led the way outside and down the street, towards the poffin house. "Do you have any berries on you, by chance?"

"Yeah, I have a few," Carmen nodded. "Yeah, I try to keep as many on me as a can," she reached inside her thin jacket and pulled out a small bag. "I hope none of them got crushed..." she muttered, looking at the bag with a furrowed eyebrow. "Have you ever tried a poffin?" she asked, looking at him.

"No, I've never had a poffin," Arceus responded. For once, he was telling the full truth. In all honesty, he was looking forward to trying one. "I wonder what they taste like... I bet they're like cookies... Oh, so we don't need to stop at the store. Making poffins takes a berry, so we're going to need at least three."

Carmen nodded. "Well all right then," she looked inside the bag. "Perfect, I have five so maybe we could make extras just for Haydo to eat later," Carmen said.

Haydo nodded. "Yeah! Poffins!" the Pokémon had never really had one but she imagined they tasted like sugar coated clouds.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I was thinking about heading towards the eastern coast after a night in Hearthome. Where are you headed afterwards?" they rounded a corner, the poffin house just down the street.

"Um..." Carmen bit her lip. "I have no idea, honestly. When I left the house I ran in a random direction, I've been doing that ever since, so I guess I'm just going to go with the flow, follow where ever the wind takes me," she looked up at him. "I've never even really seen picture of the eastern coast, it sounds fun though," she admitted.

"Yeah, same. I heard Canalave gas some nice beaches... say, would you like to travel with me?" Mentally Arceus scolded himself. What was he thinking, traveling with a human? He hadn't even planned on staying down here longer than a day: there were things he needed to attend to that humans would have no patience for. He really shouldn't have invited her, but there was something about her that kept pulling him back in.

"Beaches?" The girl's face lit up like a child on Azure Day. "Oh, um... Are you sure? I mean, I would love to, don't get me wrong, I've never had an actual human friend before huh, Haydo?" the girl grinned up at the Pokémon.

Haydo shook her head. "Nope, people liked you but you liked me better," she chirped, pressing her beak to the girl's head.

Arceus smiled fondly. "Yeah, it's fine." Internally, he was screaming over how this was a bad idea and how he shouldn't be leading her on to thinking he's human. He got distracted, however, when they arrived at the poffin house. "Here we are!"

Carmen nodded. "All right, then... Yeah, we'll tag along," she smiled and looked up at the building they were standing in front of. "Yes! Come on," she excitedly opened the door, grabbed his hand and walked in, keeping hold of his hand even after they entered. It was just who Carmen was, she sort of enjoyed physical contact, it made it that much easier to figure out how people worked.

Arceus blushed slightly when she grabbed his hand, then mentally slapped himself. They were greeted by a cheery lady who explained how to stir berries into poffins. They were then directed to a machine that looked like a crock pot and given spoons to stir with.

Carmen looked up and noticed the blush, dropping his hand right away, the last thing she wanted was to make him uncomfortable. "It's like making a cake," Carmen said as she added a berry and started to stir.

"I want to stir, I want to stir!" Haydo said and landed on Carmen's hand. "Wee, wee!" She giggled.

"A cake, huh?" Arceus watched carefully, not used to making food the long way. "Can't say I haven't done that before... Though not the traditional way..." he mumbled the last bit under his breath, not intending anyone to hear it.

Carmen continued to stir before looking up at him. "Traditional way?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "I'm not sure what the traditional or nontraditional ways of cake making are," she admitted, stirring until the poffin was done. She added another berry and waiting for him to start stirring.

Arceus froze. She was not supposed to hear that, but he guess he spoke too loudly. "Um... my family makes a huge project out of it. It's made in large batches, like cookies, instead of one cake." He was flat out lying, and hope that didn't convey in his face.

Carmen didn't even look up when he talked, she was too busy trying not to spill the poffin mix over. "That sounds amazing," Carmen grinned, looking up at him for the first time in a bit. "I totally want to join you guys some day if I could, ever...if that isn't weird... it's weird isn't it? Never mind," the girl dropped her gaze from him and back to the poffin mix sheepishly.

"No, it's okay. We only make cakes on Azure day, though..." he smiled to Carmen, then looked back down to the poffin maker. "Do you think the poffins done yet?"

Carmen nodded, slightly embarrassed. "Um, yeah, I think so," she said, fishing the poffin from the maker. "Here, want to try it?" she asked, placing it in front of him.

Arceus looked over the poffin cautiously, before taking half and popping it into his mouth. "Oh my gufnesh, diff ifff the beft poffin ever!" he remarked around the food in his mouth, offering the other half to Carmen. "Here, you try."

Carmen chuckled, grinning. "I guess I have a knack for making them!" she took a bite of the poffin. It was strange, definitely made for Pokémon. "But I don't think I have a taste for them," she said, swallowing. "Blah," she shook her head. "Oh well," she giggled.

Haydo hopped over to peck at the remaining parts of the poffin in Carmen's hand. "It's so good! Why doesn't she like it?" she asked looking up at Arceus.

Arceus shrugged. "Yeah, probably made for Pokémon. I guess I'm just weird or something. Hey, what other berries do you have? I want to try a sour one next."

Carmen chuckled. "You are weird. I like it," she checked her bag, pulling a sitrus berry from it. "Ah-ha! Got one," she grinned and popped it into the mix. "Do you want to stir it or should I?" she asked.

"I'll give it a try," Arceus stirred the batter, feeling it harden as he stirred faster. He exclaimed in surprise when the batter spilled out, nearly splashing all over his white pants. "That would have been unfortunate..."

Carmen flinched her hand away as a bit of steaming batter splashed over on it. "Yeah, totally," she said, brushing it off and putting the slightly burned flesh to her lips.

"Oh, sorry, did I burn you?" Arceus looked up from the batter, concerned, slowing down so he wouldn't splash out anymore. "Go run the burn under cold water, that should help." He would heal her hand, but that would be a dead giveaway. He felt bad about causing her pain and not being able to fix it; if only there weren't so many other trainers in the poffin house, maybe he could just explain to her why he had to lie... she seemed like a nice girl, not one intent on catching all Pokémon.

"No, Mason, it's fine," she said, putting her hand on the table. "You're really enthusiastic about stirring though," she chuckled. She looked around the room nodding to the other people who looked back at her. "There are so many people in this city... I can't decide what I like better; out in the woods with Pokémon or in large cities with people," she looked down at Haydo. "What do you like better?"

"The forest," she chirped as if the question was stupid. "It has fresher air,"

"I prefer anywhere I'm not alone," Arceus hummed, finishing the poffin and taking it out, breaking off a chunk for Haydo. This one was a bit burnt and looked lumpy, like it had been rushed, which it probably had. It also had more bland taste to it, making the sour taste have less impact. "I liked it when you cooked..." Arceus made a face, but finished the poffin. "I also think I like the sweet ones better... it that's not too much trouble."

Carmen chuckled and shook her head. "All right, I'll make you one more," she told him, plopping another berry into the mix and stirring it. "How do you mess these up?" She asked, amused. He was so... adorable, she couldn't stop smiling at him.

Arceus smiled sheepishly, rubbing his arm. "Well, um... first you have to be able to burn water..." he chuckled at the joke. "But in all seriousness, the only food I've been able to do is simple things, like sandwiches, and cake..."

Carmen chuckled as well. "I've never been able to do anything like that. I guess I'm just naturally an amazing cook," she said, flipping her bangs from her eyes. "Well, I can't wait until I can try one of your sandwiches or one of your families cakes," she smiled. She fished out the sweet poffin and placed it in front of him. "I should totally buy a poffin maker," she decided.

"Yes, definitely," Arceus went to grab the poffin, but it was taken from him by a fast, brown shape. "Hey!" He looked to the door, where he saw the Pokémon escape to. "You took my poffin!" he went chasing after it.

Carmen pushed herself to her feet, grabbing her guitar and slinging it over her shoulder as she ran after Mason. "What was that? It moved so fast I couldn't see it," she called after him.

Haydo flew off as well, she was ahead of Arceus and doing her best to catch up with the other Pokémon.

The Eevee rounded a corner, down the alley behind the poffin shop, hoping to shake the Fletchling off her tail. She was horrified, however, when that man rounded the corner as well. So that presence she had sensed early had really been him after all. She turned quickly, running up to a startled Arceus and presented him with the poffin, shaking in fear and bowing her head.

Arceus looked confused at the Eevee... when he noticed a raggedy collar around her neck. He took the poffin back and went to give her a pat on the head, but she flinched back instead. "Please... Don't hurt me..." she whimpered.

"What makes you think I was going to hurt you?" he responded.

"Because I took your poffin, milord..." her voice trailed off when he returned the poffin.

"You don't look like you have a trainer anymore... Are you hungry?"

The Eevee responded with a nod, eating the poffin ravenously.

Carmen was panting when she rounded the corner, resting her hands on her knees. "Did you get it?" she asked, walking over to Mason and seeing the Eevee. "Awe, it's so cute," she said, leaning down, resting her hand on Mason's shoulder as she looked over the Eevee. "It looks like it has a trainer... or had," she noticed the wearing on the collar. "Poor thing..."

Haydo looked at the Eevee. "What's your name?" she asked, watching the Eevee.

"Nova... My name is Nova..." the Eevee responded. She let out a startled yelp when Arceus picked her up.

"I think I'll take care of her. Would you like that, Nova?" Arceus asked, and Nova responded with an excited nod. "Great! I'll just..." he went to remove the collar, but she struggled away.

"No... I want to keep the collar..."

"Okay, okay." He let her climb up to sit on his shoulder.

Carmen smiled up at him as she stood. "That's so sweet of you," she said. "Um, we should find food for the Pokémon and then get a room," she decided looking up as Haydo fluttered onto her head. "And I am feeling popcorn, probably, some candy..." she paused. "I'm totally getting candy," she reached her hand into his pocket to grab a handful of cash. "Come on, I'm sure your new friend could use food," she stated, walking from the alley way.

"Perhaps we could afford some real Pokémon food instead..." Arceus startled a bit when she just reached into his pocket. Regardless, he turned down the street towards the store. "Candy and stuff isn't really healthy, you know?"

Carmen looked up at him with a raised eyebrow then realization washed over her face. "Oh, right, you can't read my mind. No, I'm totally getting actual Pokémon food, but I'm getting stuff for me, and you if you want some," she explained.

"No, I'm full, thanks for asking." Arceus responded.

"Candy sounds good!" Nova piped up, nearly jumping off his shoulder.

Arceus patted her head. "Calm down, there... You're not going to get any candy." She visibly drooped, hoping for candy.

Carmen turned around, walking backwards. "She wants candy? I'm sure I could find some Pokémon candy... wait... can you understand her?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She turned and immediately tripped over something, catching herself on her hands.

Haydo flapped her wings to catch herself as Carmen fell. "Are you okay?" she asked landing next to her friend.

"Are you okay?" Arceus echoed, helping Carmen back up. Nova hopped off his shoulder, sniffing nervously at Carmen's feet.

"Yup," Carmen said, pushing herself back up onto her feet, brushing her hands off. "I'm always fine," she smiled at him. "Come on," she said. Carmen was just a clumsy girl, it was who she was, so she was used to ignoring bleeding, scratched up palms.

Haydo flew up and landed on her head again. "She'll be okay," Haydo told them. "She falls a lot. There was this one time she broke her foot because she fell down the stairs,"

"That's good..." Arceus was still a bit concerned, especially over the whole broken foot thing. regardless, he still followed, hoping Carmen wouldn't pick up on the topic of how he understood Nova and what she was saying.

Carmen had completely forgotten the topic, she was more focused on candy. "Hey, do they make Pokémon candy? Did I already ask that? I feel like I already asked that," she sighed and shrugged. Carmen looked over her shoulder at Mason. "Are you sure you don't want anything? Like... a soda?" she asked. She stopped in front of a store, her hand on the handle of the door.

"Um... get me a fruit tea and a bag of chips. For the specifics..." he shrugged. "Surprise me. I don't know if they make Pokémon candy, but if they do, get something for Nova, too. I'll go get us a hotel room; meet you back here in ten?"

It took five minutes to get to a hotel that had vacancies, so by the time Arceus could actually get a room, the only room left was one with one bed. All the rest had been reserved or taken before him earlier in the day. When he returned to the store, he and Nova were out of breath from running back, and about three minutes late. "Sorry... for being late... hotel... far..." He stood up straight, stretching a bit. "Anything I can take?"

Carmen had been humming to herself, staring at the sky and imagining what it was like to fly. "Huh? Oh, are you late?" she asked, looking at him. "Oh, please," she said handing him two bags. "Sure, you can carry these, thank you," she started walking, humming again slightly. "How far?" she asked, looking at him.

Arceus took the bags and started walking down the street. "Five blocks down... left turn and another two. Oh, also... um... they only had one room left, with one bed..." he blushed slightly. "Sorry, it's the only thing I could find at short notice."

Nova trotted along, sniffing between the bags they carried. "What'd you get?" she asked up to Haydo.

"Well at least we won't get cold," Carmen smiled up at him, noticing the blush. "Hey, it's only weird, if you make it weird," she told him, nudging him gently.

"We got Peppermint sticks that are made for Pokémon and we got special sugary drinks made for us too, plus Carmen promised to share her popcorn," Haydo said, landing on the Eevee's back. "I'm Haydo by the way,"

"Great to meet you, Haydo!" Nova responded. "Peppermint sounds good! I don't think I've ever had that before... what does it taste like?"

"Yeah..." Arceus shook his head and rubbed his cheeks, trying to clear the blush. "Sorry. I'm just not used to sharing a bed."

"It tastes... strange, but really good. I hope you like it," she said. "It's one of Carmen's favorite things and she'd share with me, but human things aren't good for us, so I'd feel sick, but I never let her know,"

Carmen shrugged. "It's okay, I've only slept with a few guys so I'm not exact used to it either," the realization of her words hit her. "I mean, I haven't like done anything with any of them, and... I honestly don't know how to dig myself out of this whole," she sighed. "I haven't done anything," she added on again.

Arceus laughed a bit. "I know what you mean. I haven't done anything, either." he smiled kindly, turning the corner.

Nova walked along behind them, not really listening to what they were saying and paying attention to Haydo. "But if you get sick, shouldn't you at least say something so you stop getting sick?" it seemed like common sense to Nova. Even she wouldn't be desperate enough to try and eat human food.

Carmen nodded, playing with her lip piecing with her tongue. "Yeah, virgins till... I don't know, whenever it happens," she shrugged, then sighed. "I'm weird, I'm sorry,"

"I know that seems like the logical thing to do," she said, looking over at her human friend. "But Carmen likes to share, it makes her happy. It doesn't make me so sick that I regret it, but making her look happy is always worth it,"

"No, it's okay. You really have to stop apologizing for being weird. I really don't mind," Arceus responded, as they arrived at the hotel and made their way to the room.

"Hmm... I guess. My trainer - well, old trainer - never shared. He didn't like to have others share, either, and hardly ever fed us, so I'd often steal food like that..." Nova responded, meaning the poffin earlier.

Carmen nodded and smiled up at him. "You know, you're really cool, Mason," she said, nudging him again. "How does one get to be as cool as you?" she asked.

"I'm sorry that your trainer was bad. Arceus wont treat you like that. And if Arceus has to get back to being our God then Carmen will happily take care of you until he comes back," she smiled.

Arceus scratched his head awkwardly. "I don't know... It just comes with accepting the way things are, I guess... that's my secret, anyways." They arrived at the hotel room, and he fished out the key, opening the door and setting the food down on the table just inside.

"Thanks," Nova responded with a nod. "I know Arceus shouldn't be bad, but Carmen... are you sure she's okay? She worries me a bit..."

"And how are the way things are?" she asked. "Or, never mind," she placed the bags down as well. "All right, let's get this party going," she stated and started to place the sodas and candies on the table. "All right, these are Poke treats," she said, placing them on the floor. "And these are human, here's your tea," she said handing the man his drink.

"Why?" Haydo asked, looking up at the girl. "She doesn't know Pokémon well because she never wanted to learn, which is why she doesn't know about human food and Pokémon, but she means well,"

"Thank you very much," Arceus nodded, taking the drink and going to sit on the bed, opening the can and taking a sip. "So, what do you want to do before going to sleep?"

"I don't know," Nova shrugged. "There's just something about her... It's weird. Don't you feel it?"

Carmen played with her lip piercing as she tried to figure out what to do. "Um... how about... I don't know," she sighed. "How about we tell stories? We're going to be traveling together right? What if we talk about who we are and stuff?" she asked.

Haydo looked over at Carmen again. "No... weird how?" She asked.

Arceus internally dreaded this. "Okay, sure... You go first."

"Like I said, I don't know..." Nova shrugged, tearing into a Pokémon treat.

Carmen nodded and sat down on the bed. "There was this one time, it was the first time I decided to play Xander in public. I was in the park and I was getting set up and this girl from around town walked up and accidentally spilled her coffee all over my sheet music, I was so devastated that I went home in tears and my mom and I curled up on the couch and we just sat there, until we fell asleep," the smile on her face showed that the memory meant a lot. "It's not very interesting, but it's my favorite memory,"

"Well, she'll love you and keep you safe," Haydo said, proud of her friend. "And if you're mean to her then I'll have to fight you," she warned as she started eating her own treat.

Arceus smiled. "There was this one time I was teaching my... little brother how to walk. He has a leg condition that makes him walk different than everybody else, so when he walked across the room for the first time I was so overjoyed I started crying

"Awe, that's so great!" Carmen said with a grin. "I'm glad he got to walk." she took a drink of her soda as she tried to think again. "Um, there was this one time when I came home with about forty bucks after a performance, it was the most I ever made. That was the first and only time he said 'well done kid'," she made her voice deeper as if mocking her dad.

"That's great! I sometimes wish I had parents..." he shook his head. "I remember the first time we made cakes for Azure day. No one knew what they were doing, so it all looked horrible but was by far the best cake I've ever eaten."

"You don't have parents?" she asked. "I'm so sorry, but I'm glad that you had such a great cake," she smiled. "There were times where I wish that I didn't have parents..." she said, her gaze dropping slightly. "Or well... my dad, I wish I didn't have a dad,"

"Why? What's wrong with your dad?" Arceus would have loved to have a dad, so he would have known how to properly raise his sons.

"He, um..." Carmen sipped her soda. "Oh, so when Haydo hatched I was scared, because I had never seen a Pokémon up close before, so I actually wouldn't go near her, but she wouldn't stay away from me because I was the first thing she saw, it took me a total of two days to even hold her," she completely ignored his question.

Arceus laughed, deciding to drop the subject. "Well, at least you got over your fear..." he yawned.

"Yeah, I'm not afraid of everything," Carmen smiled at him. "Oh... I guess we should go to sleep huh?" she said, looking over at the great treats they hadn't even touched. Eh, she would have them tomorrow. She finished her drink and threw the can away.

"Actually... could I talk to you about something?"

"Um, yeah sure, what's up?" Carmen asked, crossing her legs.

"I know this is kind of sudden, but I need your help deciding between these three lovely girls. One's a sweetie, an opera singer. The others a fighter, full of spirit and really kind once you get to know her. The third is this a girl I never expected to catch my fancy like this... who should I go with?

Carmen raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. "Okay, I need more than that if I'm going to help you decide. Tell me all you know about these girls and exactly how all of them make you feel,"

"Well, the first girl's name is Christine. I don't know much about her; I met her on my travels and we kind of hit it off. Now that I think about it, it was more of a puppy love; she had said she had someone back home."

Carmen nodded. "Okay, well then that means she's already off the list," the girl said. "Puppy love plus someone back home is just a great memory," she decided.

"The second girl's name is Shilo. She's spoken for, but she makes me feel so happy inside I simply can't give her up. She's a bit prickly but that's half her charm. She hates being touched, but I feel like she puts up with it for me… And... um... the third girl's name is Carmen... I'm sure you two are already acquainted..." he blushed deeply at this last bit, said after a brief pause.

"Wait, so this girl hates touch but she puts up with it just for you, even though she's spoken for?" she twirled her lip piercing with her tongue as she thought. Then when he spoke again her cheek turned red. "Wait... um... what?" she asked, then shook her head. His words swam through her head. "You can't give Shilo up, but you have feelings for me," she looked at him. "I'm kind of feeling second best right now," she told him, honest, but still a small smile on her face.

"No, no, that's not what I meant at all." He gently cupped her cheek with his free hand. "You and her are neck and neck. I've only just started to get to know her. Plus she has another whom she also touches... but not like that! Well, not that I would know..." he was floundering at this point.

Carmen smiled at his touch then chuckled as he searched for words. "Okay, okay... but you and I just met, Mason, how can you talk like you've known me for more than a few hours?" she asked.

"Because these hours felt like the best I've ever had. You ever get this feeling, like something that's meant to happen? I feel like that right now." That, and he's notorious for acting on impulse.

Carmen grinned. "Yeah, I get that feeling," she told him. "And I'm feeling it, trust me. I like you too, Mason, which is weird because I don't really like guys... at all," she told him. "But... you're safe, I can feel that,"

Arceus smiled. "Thank you..."

"Is it bad that I want to hear all about this girl you're in love with so I can hate her more and more?" she said, scrunching her nose.

Arceus kind of laughed at that. "Not really, though I wish you could meet her. She'd probably hate you too… Nah, she's strongly spoken for... she'll have to go off the list, sorry about that."

"Why should she hate me? No one's ever hated me before..." Carmen said, her eyes showing worry. "Wait... what made you change your mind?" she asked at his sudden change of heart. "You confuse me," she giggled, all worry from before going to happiness.

Arceus shrugged. "I was just thinking over what she's said to me... I guess she never liked me all that much. It's really obvious now that I think about it." He smiled sadly.

Carmen nodded. "All right then, fair enough," she said, putting a hand over his. "Hey, I'm sure she is totally in love with whatever guy took her from you, but she's missing out on a great guy, and I have to admit, I'm happy that she is," she smiled at him.

He smiled warmly. "You're just saying that because I told you how I feel."

"That isn't true," Carmen told him. "I like you, Mason. And not just because you like me. I honestly have feelings for you, I mean... they're new so I can't place them perfectly, but they're there,"

"That's great!" he said, feeling a fluttering in his chest and a turning over in his stomach. He hated lying to her, but at this point didn't know how to break it to her without feeling weird. He couldn't just come out and say 'Oh, by the way, I'm actually Arceus,' that would probably make her leave faster than keeping the secret, so he figured he would just not tell her for now. Arceus yawned, setting the can of tea down on the nightstand. "Thanks for listening to me, it really means a lot."

Carmen giggled lightly, she wasn't ready for sleep in the slightest, but obviously the man was tired. "Yeah, no problem. I like listening as much as I like to talk so whenever you need to talk about anything just let me know," a small grin spread on her face. "I still want to know about this Shilo girl sometime though, I want to know why you liked her, because it sounds like she is the complete opposite of me. But you can tell me later, okay? Right now you should sleep,"

"Right... Thanks, sorry if I made you uncomfortable..." Arceus removed his jacket and shoes, before climbing into bed, turning off the lights on the way. He wasn't really tired, but eventually he figured Carmen would need to sleep, so he would just wait until she fell asleep and quickly tackle tomorrow's work overnight so he wouldn't need to slip away during the day.

"Night, Nova," Haydo said as soon as the lights went off. She fluttered over to Carmen, landing by her head, placing her beak over the girl's arm in an almost defensive way, it was how the two had slept ever since they became friends, Haydo, though small, was Carmen's safe guard, one of the few reasons she was alive.

"Good night, Haydo," Carmen said, this wouldn't be the first time she forced sleep on herself, she did it a lot back home. "Good night, Mason," she closed her eyes and with the comfort of Haydo, she fell asleep quickly.

Nova had fallen asleep upside down in the Pokémon treats, crumbs littering her fur, drooling slightly out the side of her mouth.

"Good night," Arceus waited, listening for Carmen's easy breathing, and once he was sure she was asleep, he stepped out of bed and headed to the balcony.

Carmen was out cold, she usually was, she was a heavy sleeper, Haydo on the other hand was not. "You're going to come back, right?" she whispered to the Pokémon God. "Please come back..." she looked at her friend. "She didn't fake all of her smiles today,"

"I'll return, I promise," Arceus responded to the small Pokémon. Looking around, he lightly launched himself onto the hotel roof, summoning the glowing golden displays and starting on his work

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay this one didn't get nearly as much love as the first chapter did... and by love I mean editing. If anything looks choppy, forgive me. I was a bit rushed and it's really hard to get a role play into story form. If you see anything wrong with this please let me know and I will gladly fix it.**

**READ ON!**

**- SA ;P**


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